Caution! 3 Potato Things You Need to Know to Feel Better

How do you like your potato served?Baked, mashed or do you prefer it as a chip?

I’m guessing the phrase “Ya gonna eat the rest of those fries?” is a dead giveaway to how we like to eat them. And as Americans, eat them we do! The National Potato Council reported we each ate 111 pounds of them in 2014! But should we be eating so much of them?

The answer: it depends. Are you a person with diabetes or are you trying to manage or lose weight?

If I asked you if potatoes are considered a vegetable or a carbohydrate, what would you say?

Did you say a vegetable? Then you would be correct. Botanically, a potato is a vegetable.

If you said a carbohydrate, then you would also be correct. Nutritionally, a potato is a starchy food due to its high carbohydrate content.

The Potato is a Starchy Vegetable, and You Should Treat it like a Carbohydrate

Therefore, although the potato is healthy nutritionally, for purposes relating to weight loss or blood sugar management, it helps to consider the potato in the grain group when you are making food choices.

Carbohydrates have four calories per gram. So, if you compare, say a serving of green beans to a serving of potato there will be 20 calories in the green beans and 60 in the potato. That doesn’t sound like a whole lot but…

The Proper Serving Size is Much Smaller Than an Average Potato

Boom! Most of the time we are not eating the proper serving size (no matter how they are prepared), and we are getting way more calories than we think. If you are working on weight loss, you can easily go past your daily calorie limit just with an oversized potato serving!

Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Here’s an old standby approximation. Make a fist and pretend to pound on a table. Now, look at the top of your fist facing the ceiling. That circle you see form, that is a proper potato serving size. Whether it is a whole potato, or if you need to, picture the opening of a 1/2 cup.

What about french fries you ask?

Most are not served by weight but by volume per container. However, a well-known fast-food chain has approximately:

2.6 oz in a small

4.0 oz in a medium

6.0 oz in a large

These are well over the 1 ounce serving size.

How good at you at eating just 4-8 fries???

Determining whether you should go ahead and eat them, or skip them all together might be influenced by the next point.

The Glycemic Index of a Potato is Very High

Do you ever feel sluggish or fatigued after eating potatoes-especially a lot of them? It very well may have rapidly raised, or ‘spiked’ your blood sugar.

A high glycemic index food turns into sugar in the bloodstream quickly. Foods are given values (based on scientific experiments and testings) of low, medium and high. Food that turns to sugar quickly will raise blood sugar levels and can not be used for energy very long.

The goal of using a glycemic index is to eat foods that stay in the low-medium range.

If you eat food with a high GI, you would want foods with low GI on the rest of your plate.

A high glycemic load food will cause blood sugar and insulin spikes. Spikes are typically followed by crashes, which is what we all want to avoid, but it can cause havoc for people trying to manage blood sugar levels.

The goal of using a glycemic load is to eat foods with a low glycemic index and a low glycemic load.

Folks who have diabetes, or are managing their weight should eat primarily foods with low GL and mediums, and high foods should be eaten in moderation.

Please refer to the glycemic index and glycemic load chart below.

Glycemic Index

Glycemic Load

Refers to the measure of how quickly food breaks down into sugar in your bloodstream.

< 55 Low

56-69 Medium

>70 High

Refers to the measure of how much carbohydrate of food you are getting.

< 10 low

11-19 medium

> 20 high

Potato

High

High

Cauliflower

Low

Low

Carrot

High

Low

Green Bean

Low

Low

Oatmeal

Medium

Medium

Popcorn

Low

Low

Donut

High

High

The Potato Truth

Ultimately, foods with BOTH a low glycemic index and glycemic load should be staples in your diet.

AND a proper serving size is imperative.

The amount of the potato us key. Eating a larger serving size may push you into a medium or high GL! (Intrigued but confused? I can help you improve your self-care!)

You can view more foods on Dr. Sear’s website, I used information from this chart.

In conclusion, there truly is power in healthy choices! When it comes to whether you should eat that potato there are several things to consider. The high carbohydrate count, the typical portion size, the glycemic index, and glycemic load are all important to note. If you are a diabetic or are someone who is trying to lose or manage your weight, a healthy habit would be to watch the portion size and eat potatoes only on occasion.

About the Author

Lisa has been an RN for 25 years and has a passion for helping people make healthy choices & build healthy habits related to self-care. Check out Lisa's free tip sheet "10 Ways to Save Money on Healthcare"!

Information provided on My Life Nurse.com is for informational purposes only. No physician-patient or healthcare provider-patient relationship exists in any form. This information should not be construed as medical advice and should not substitute your physician's plan of treatment. Please seek a physician if you need assistance. Consult with your physician for diet and exercise advisement. Follow your physician's treatment plan as directed.

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